Currently a literature scholar, Lee has published poetic and dramatic work, as well as both short and long fiction. In this essay, she discusses how Niffenegger uses a literary motif in The Time Traveler's Wife to emphasize plot and thematic devices.

In a novel, literary references work on many levels to enrich the plot, enhance character development, and add complexity to thematic throughlines. Literary references also help to immediately establish the story by offering the reader familiar motifs and obvious metaphors. By providing her reader with several of these literary touchstones, Audrey Niffenegger successfully grounds the fantastic premise of The Time Traveler's Wife. From the quotations, excerpts, and poetry that structure the novel to passing remarks about Henry's and Clare's preferred reading material, Niffenegger prompts the reader to contemplate the complexities of her novel in terms of what happened in other works, particularly J. B. Priestley's Man...